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Qld ponders Games bid v assets sales

ELEANOR HALL: Despite the furore over the Delhi preparations for the Games, the Queensland Government is bidding to host the event in 2018.

And it looks the Sunshine State may get the gig. Its only rival, the Sri Lankan city of Hambantota - failed to show for its presentation to Games officials in India on the weekend.

But back home economists are questioning whether the Bligh Government's $1 billion bid is worth the expense - especially when the Government is crying poor and selling off state assets.

In Brisbane, Nicole Butler reports.

NICOLE BUTLER: Australia's already hosted four Commonwealth Games, but the Queensland Government wants the Gold Coast to share the honour in 2018.

Premier Anna Bligh has been in Delhi over the weekend to take the state's bid to the Games Federation.

ANNA BLIGH: I'm very excited about the possibilities, of course, we're all a little nervous about getting it right, but I'm very confident that they'll go away impressed by what the Gold Coast has to offer.

NICOLE BUTLER: Premier Bligh isn't the only one nervous about Queensland getting it right. Economist John Quiggin has questioned whether the state should even be making the billion dollar bid for the Games.

JOHN QUIGGIN: Well, it's something of a luxury expenditure, putting big money into sporting events. So it certainly doesn't fit well with the Government's claim that they're forced by necessity to sell off assets at what look like firesale prices.

NICOLE BUTLER: Dr Quiggin says the Bligh Labor Government's been crying poor, and telling Queenslanders it needs to sell off $15 billion worth of assets to get the state back into the black.

He says by that argument, Queensland can't afford to host the Commonwealth Games.

JOHN QUIGGIN: I can't see a significant return in terms of revenue for the Queensland State Government. The benefits, such as they are, will come from the tourist industry and so forth.

He says both the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and the Sydney Olympics 10 years ago actually ended up costing taxpayers money, and both failed to deliver the huge economic spinoffs that were predicted.

JOHN QUIGGIN: The historical record hasn't been great, I mean, the organisations who sponsor them typically drive pretty hard bargains, so it usually ends up with governments putting their hands in their pockets to a pretty substantial extent.

NICOLE BUTLER: The economics fellow says if Queensland does get the 2018 Games, the State Government will have to put its hands in its pockets pretty quickly to start building venues and infrastructure.

JOHN QUIGGIN: Money that's spent out of the Government pocket is money that can't be spent on schools and hospitals. The Government may this claim about selling income-earning assets; they’re selling things like the railways which make money, for an event which will return very little in way of revenue to the Government.

I think the truth of the matter is that the claims of crying poor were bogus all along. The Government's never been in the desperate financial position it claimed, and that the stated rationale for the asset sales is really false.

NICOLE BUTLER: The Treasurer Andrew Fraser is in Parliament and hasn't been available to talk to The World Today, but in a written statement, he's defended the Government's decision to pursue the Commonwealth Games for the Gold Coast.

ANDREW FRASER (voiceover): Any recent visitor to the Gold Coast would know that private investment, especially on the Gold Coast, has been, and still is, struggling.

NICOLE BUTLER: In his statement, the Treasurer's also defended the Queensland Government's $15 billion asset sale. Andrew Fraser says the Government stands by its decision, and that those decisions put Queensland in a position to pursue the Commonwealth Games.